A message from the Editor of the Journal of Popular Culture, Ann Larabee

I am sad to report that Deborah Carmichael, managing editor of The Journal of Popular Culture for many years, died peacefully this week after a short illness.

I know that many of you have had contact with Deb, either in her duties as managing editor or as the chair of the Sixties area of the national PCA/ACA conference. Deb had a big personality, a commitment to the profession, and a wonderfully sweet disposition. She was sage counselor and good friend to many colleagues and students here at Michigan State University. There was no one like her, and she will be missed.

A colleague of hers drafted this statement: “Deborah Carmichael was a thoughtful and caring teacher in the Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures Department at MSU. A good listener and friend, Deb always kept her door open for students and colleagues alike. She received her Ph.D. from Oklahoma State University, where she studied nineteenth-century American literature, and film and popular culture. There, she researched Oklahoma film circuits as cultural centers in small agricultural communities. Deb also served as managing editor of the Journal of Popular Culture and Editor-in-Chief of Film and History. She published scholarly articles, did textbook editing, and gave numerous conference presentations on popular culture at the regional, national, and even international levels. Deb was active in the American Federation of Teachers union, and had just been elected as its president. She traveled widely, to Australia (invited conference speaker) and to Europe and the Middle East, and had lived in Oklahoma, Florida, and New York City, where she was a fashion merchandiser. About one year ago, she was preceded in death by her long-time and much beloved partner Michael Baldwin.”

I wish that she could have been here to celebrate the journal’s fiftieth anniversary, but I know she will be here in spirit and in her lasting contribution to the organization.